USA > Minnesota > Meeker County > A random historical sketch of Meeker County, Minnesota : from its first settlement to July 4th, 1876 > Part 5
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HISTORY OF MEEKER COUNTY.
Grant's camp-to get something to to eat !
Little Crow was buried at Hutchinson without much ceremony, and without full knowledge at that time that it was in fact Little Crow.
Little Crow was a small sized man and a savage chieftain of singular power and genius, always evil disposed to the whites, as was his father 30 or 40 years before. With strong intellect and an un- bending will, but had become disgusted with the management of the war by the other chieftains of the hostile tribes.
We have not heard of any new . speculations in regard to Little Crow's remains for some years.
The last we heard of them some live Yankee near Hutchinson had his bones in an old soap- box, and was trying to drive a sharp bargain by selling them to the Minnesota Historical Society- with what success we never learned-alas for hi- man-or rather inhuman fame and greatness. Re- port has it, that said Society is in possession of Little Crow's scalp (we doubt whether he was ever scalped) which had been carefully tanned and consequently will not decay-so that future generations can look on the polished top knot with a due amount of reverence.
So far as the fact is concerned, it is of little con- sepuence whether the tanned scalp now in the
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archives of the State Historical Society ever covered Little Crow's pate or not, if after-genera- tions only think so, it is just as well, and the man who scalped Christopher Columbus, and could not find where John Rogers was burned Feb. 14th, 1554, will be dead long before the fraud will be dis- covered, and as there is no prospect of his leaving any male heirs, posterity will not be likely to trouble itself about the fact. Another report has it, that one J. D. Farmer, of Spring Valley, Minn. became possessor of Little Crow's skull soon after his death and presented it to Dr. Powell of Lanes- boro, and that one Dr. Twitchell of Chatfield has the balance of Little Crow's "frame work,"-doubt- ful.
CHAPTER IX.
The morning of the 4th, of September 1862, was celebrated in Forest City by the early arrival of about 200 Indians They were evidently unaware of the existence of our stockade and appearances in- dicated that they intended to take the people by surprise.
Coming into town at 3 A. M., some twenty or more mounted Indians advanced to about the cen- ter of the town-site and discharged a volley in the air-evidently intending to rouse the sleeping set- tlers, and during the panic, have things their own way. In this they were disappointed.
With what we knew of the Indians in the coun- ty, an attack had for some two days, been deemed a moral certainty and we were as well prepared for them as we could have been-Guided solely by
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the light of the "volley in the air" some twenty of our men fired over the pickets of the stockade and five Indians "bit the dust" and were subsequently loaded into a wagon at Hoyt's house.
A picket guard surrounded the town, and most of them continued on the second beat, a list of the men standing guard that night has not been pre- served but among them we find H. Stevens, Chaun- cy Dart, Andrew Nelson, Henry L. Smith Wm. Branham and Sylvester Stevens, with others.
The Indians forded the river on the west and came in between sentinels Smith and Dart, who were the first to give the alarm, by the discharge of their pieces-this was immediately passed round the town by the entire guard and all started for the stockade. the Indians in the mean time giv- ing a grand war whoop and discharged a volley apparently in the air, as above stated.
The moon having just gone down, it was re- markably dark and sentinel Dart in taking a b - for the stockade, suddenly found himself in a "coal- pit hole" where he lost his hat and gun-being some-what in a hurry he had passed along a few rods, when the ludicrous in his composition got the better of his fears, and he went back and recov- ered his hat and gun.
Henry L. Smith in his b - passed his fathers
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law office and brought up at the Hotel barn, where the mail boy was fruitlessly endeavoring to saddle and bridle his horse, preparatory to starting to Monticello with the mail.
Sentinel Smith assisted the boy in getting the horse properly equipped and started off, by which time diverse and sundry bullets, were reminding H. L. that no further delays were allowable.
The Indians finding a pretty formidable stock- ade did not attempt to enter it, but confined them- selves to stealing such household goods as could be most easily carried off. Sixty horses were stolen that morning and four or five buildings ransacked and burned.
The mail carrier came back from Kingston about 7 o'clock A. M. in company with C. F. Davis, to ascertain the result of the attack.
A report of the nights doings was drawn up by A. C. Smith and signed by Whitcomb and sent that morning by mail to Gov. Ramsey.
A little before daylight two families came to the stockade, from the school house, where they had spent the night, viz: N. E. Tornbom, wife and four children-one of them Sophia-now the wife of John Lundberg (Sheriff of Stevens County ) and Charles Magnus, wife and two children; also Mrs. ( Hodgeson, ) mothe of Ole ( Hodgeson.)
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The school house had been the nucleus for a band of the Indians, but not anticipating that any one was in the house, its occupants remained un- molested for nearly two hours.
In the stockade that morning there were some 40 men armed with Springfield muskets and about 200 old men, women and children-most of them un- able to get out of the country.
General Isaac Fletcher of Lyndon-late a mem ber of Congress from Vermont, once boasted on the floor of the House of Representatives at Washington that "no hostile flag ever entered on the soil of Vermont and returned to its original abode".
We don't claim that the Sioux Indians entered Meeker County with a hostile flag-but we had a very good one at the top of our liberty pole, which entirely escaped our memory that night and the Indians took it down and ran off with it.
After day light some Indians were in the act of driving off cattle when Sergeant Wm. Bran - ham, called for a squad of men to go out and head them off-six went out-three in a squad-the foremost consisting of Wm. Branham, H. L. Smith and Aslog Olson; the cattle were saved, but Olson was shot through the breast, Branham in the arm, while Smith remained unharmed. The rear
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squad countermarched to the stockade without waiting for orders,, the wounded men recovered.
Lieut. Atkinson was on his way from Clearwat- er with supplies, and was two or three miles out, when he learned of the attack and in the exercise of a sound discretion, concluded to start a new ho- tel in the bushes, and dumped his provisions and supplies and himself into the biggest grove of hazel brush and prickly-ash to be found. He sub- sequently changed his mind and 'returned to Forest City.
The Indians retired from Forest City about five o'clock in theymorning, dividing into three parties. The first took the Manannah road -- the second due south on the Greenleaf road and the third the Rice City road-simultaneously firing the residen- ces of Dudley Taylor, Milton Gorton and Wm. Richardson, situated each about a mile from town, one house on each road. .
We have since been told, that at the Indian tri- als at Mankato, the chiefs admitted a loss of eleven at Forest City. We cannot vouch for its truth. From what was seen, and from examina- tions subsequently made we guarantee that seven were killed-how or where the other four lost their breathing apparatus, is more than we can tell.
About ten o'clock on the morning of the 4th,
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and about five hours after the disappearance of the Indians, Capt. Nelson and Lieut. J. B. Blanchard with Thomas Dunham, Henry Brad- ford, Fred Hilter Elder Brooks and some 20 oth- ers came in from Manannah, where it appears they were encamped the night before. They were from Monticello, Wright County and came by way of St. Cloud and Paynesville to Manannah.
Whether the object of their mission was for more than a tour of inspection is unknown. They made no stop at Forest City, and rendered us no service.
Apprehensive of a renewal of the attack on the night of the 5th, or 6th, there was no sleep to the eye or slumber to the eyelid for the two succeed- ing nights, by those in Forest City, but no fur- ther demonstration was made by the Indians.
On the 9th, of September Maj. Welch with about 300 men-a portion of the 3rd. Regiment passed torough Forest City on their way to the Minnesota River, remaining at Forest City but one night,
Capt. Petitt's company B. Sth Regiment hastily organized at Faribault, Rice County, arrived at Forest City, went into quarters there on the 15th. of September and was the first military organiza- tion sent to our assistance-twenty- nine days after
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the massacre at Acton, and after the main body of the Indians had returned to the vicinity of the Minnesota River ..
Forest City had thus presented the only suc- cessful barrier to the passage of the Indians to Kingston-Fairhaven and Clearwater on the Miss- issippi River.
The Indians showed no disposition to pass and leave in their rear the post at Forest City, unless they could first wipe it out of existence or take its possession from the whites.
Capt. J. C. Whitney's Company C. 6th Regi- ment arrived at Forest City, Nov. 22nd, 1862, and went into winter quarters in the stockade while Capt. Petitt's company occupied the hotel.
Capt. Whitney's company was ordered to Fort Snelling, Feb. 26th 1863, and again Sep. 25th '63 he returned to Kingston-remaining about one month, when his command went across the plains to the Missouri River, as an escort to a supply train-returned to Kingston Jan. 5th 1864, and thence for the south the following June.
On the 27th of Feb. the day after Capt. Whit- ney left for Fort Snelling-Capt. O. C. Meriman arrived with Company B, 6th, Regiment and re- mained till the 26th, of April following.
On the 24th, two days prior to the departure of
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Merimain's company, Lieut. Clark Keysor arrived with 21 privates and 4 non-commissioned officers of Capt. Dane's company E 9th, Regiment and occupied the stockade. Capt. Wilson's company of cavalry passed Forest City on the Sth, of May '63, for Fort Ridgely.
On the! 9th, of June Little Crow and son crossed the Forest City and Clearwater turnpike, about four miles out from Forest City, with two horses stolen at Silver Creek in the county of Wright.
Lieut. Keysor being apprised of the fact, took eight men and went out on the Clearwater road with the view of following their trail, but returned next morning without success, having been in the woods all night and passed the places where Lit- tle Crow and son had eaten both dinner and sup- per.
Little Crow and son forded the river three or four miles above Forest City early on the morning of the roth, and passed on west-the trail could be easily followed.
Knowing that two Indians were in the woods west of Forest City and that they would necessar- ily cross the river at or near the old fords, Thos Grayson, H. L. Smith, Jas. M. Harvey and Robert Holmes, volunteered to watch two fording places
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on the river between Forest City and Manannah on the night of the 9th, -- but for some purpose un- known these parties went to Manannah and spent the night, on returning found the fresh trail as above stated, and at the same time appeared Capt. John Cady and five of his men en-route for Paynes- ville.
Cady selected two ofhis men and took the trail and finally overtook the Indians on the 11th, on the bank of Lake "Arthur" in Kandiyohi county, when a skirmish immediately took place in which Capt Cady was shot through the breast and killed. the balance of the party returned, bringing the re- mains of Cady to Forest City, where they were properly cared for and forwarded to his friends in Anoka.
July Sth, Capt. Dane appeared and removed his men to the west bank of Long Lake near Kelly's bluff-the company went South in September.
One or two companies occupied Kingston in the winter of 1862-3 and a detachment under Lieut. O'Brien, was the last military organization stationed at Forest City.
After the arrival of Capt. Petitt's company. the Forest City boys devoted most of their time in caring for personal property-stock, grain, &c., in different parts of the county and in which they
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did good service. The company was disbanded by Gov. Ramsey on the 15th of October, 1862.
While in active service and until disbanded, the Government recognized and paid the officers and mnen.
After the arrival of regular troops, many of our men, knowing our organization to be a mere rope of sand, proposed to, and did go about their bus- iness, endeavoring to get ready for winter-get their families back-most of them had families which had been broken up, all of which seemed a very important duty.
On the 6th, Whitcomb met the writer in St. Paul and informed him that he and a portion of his command had "nominated a candidate for the Legislature," the knowledge of which coming to the ears of Gov Ramsey, he promptly ordered the company to be disbanded.
This proceeding deeply offended our doughty captain, who, on his return, took the orderly's book and marked the word "deserted" against the names of all his men, who were engaged in looking after their own property.
Thirteen of the best men of the company were thus marked, why or wherefore is unknown, un- less the captain drawing pay for his entire com- pany neglected to pay the deserters, an easy way
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to net about $300.00. One of the last raids of the Indians in the county took place in August 1863. Jesse V. Branham, sen. Wm. Kruger, Charles Kruger and William Branham, one dog and two horses, visited the farm of Wm. Kruger, eight miles south of Forest City, for the purpose of harvesting wheat.
The first night out, the men slept in the house, the horses were picketed within a rod of the house and dog stood sentinel-Kruger said he could be trusted.
During the night a tremendous thunder storm rent the skies, and the dog deserted his post and returned to Forest City and two Indians ran off with the horses-the trail run a due west course passing Pipe Lake Station, when seventeen soldiers took the trail and followed it past the Kandiyohi Lakes, overhauling the Indians about twenty miles out-the horses were picketed and the red men fast asleep.
Thinking to have more fun with them than fighting-the soldiers surrounded the sleeping Indians before waking them up.
As soon as the Indians discovered their posi- tion they pitched in among the soldiers and came very near whipping the crowd and died game, and father Branham says, the soldiers sclaped the
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Indians and left their bodies on the prairie. Fath- er Branham has a poor opinion of "dogs" as a picket guard, and still less of Indians as play-mates.
CHAPTER N.
A WILD WOMAN'S HISTORY-THE SLAYER OF HUN- DREDS OF BEARS AND WILD-CATS.
HONESDALE, Pa., July 20th, 1876 .- "There" said Sheriff Spencer, as he pushed open the ponderous door of one of the cells of the county jail in this place, "There is a woman with a history."
On a low chair in a cell in the jail at Honesdale, Pa., July 20th, 1876, sat a most singular looking person. A round, wrinkled, sun-burned face, small head crowned with thick, shaggy gray hair, that fell down over and almost concealed the blackest and sharpest of eyes; a slender body clothed in scant and shabby female garb, and lower limbs encased in tattered trousers. This was the occupant of the cell-Lucy Ann Lobdell
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NEE Slater, better known thereabouts as "the fe- male hunter of Long Eddy."
About 45 years ago a family named Lobdell lived in Delaware county, N. Y., at what is now the village of Long Eddy on the Delaware river and Erie railway, then sparsely settled. Lumber- ing was the main business of the settlers of the vi- cinity. The Lobdells dwelt in a cabin in the woods where a daughter, the subject of our sketch, was born. From the time this child was old enough to walk she was a great favorite among the hardy woodchoppers and raftsmen. They often took her off to the logging camp and kept her there for days at a time, and she early became inured to the hardships of their life. The lumbermen in those days were all good hunters, and always carried their rifles with them. Before Lucy Ann was eight years old they had taught her the use of the rifle, and she soon became as good a shot as there was in the settlement. At the age of twelve she could out- shoot any of the men, and handled the ax with the ease of an old chopper. Before she had reached the age of sixteen she had killed numerous deer, and an absence of two or three days alone in the . woods was for her not an uncommon thing. She once killed a full sized panther, and the hide of the animal is now in the possession of an ex-sheriff of
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Wayne Co. Pa. Notwithstaning her masculine tastes Lucy Ann's name, as a girl and woman, was free from reproach. The breath of slander never reached her, and she could have had her choice of a husband from the most exemplary young men in the vicinity. But she had no incli- nation to marry and she rejected all offers.
A raftsman named Henry Slater came into the settlement about1 850. He formed the acquaint- ance of Lucy Ann and to the surprise of everybody. they were married Slater proposed to Lucy Ann, and she told him that they would shoot at a mark with a rifle. If he beat her shots she would marry him, if not she would stay with her parents. The trial of skill took place and Slater was victorious.
Slater proved a worthless scape-grace and neg- lected and abused his wife. A year after they were married Mrs. Slater gave birth to a daughter. Before the child was two weeks old Slater desert- ed both child and wife, leaving them in des- titute circumstances. Slater never returned, but was occasionally heard of in New York city, and on the Hudson river, a worthless, drunken, vaga- bond.
The sorrowing wife went back to her parents, and after two years spent in trying to get along and maintain herself respectably by doing wo- man's work, but with poor success, she laid aside
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the apparel of her sex, donned men's clothing, and taking her rifle went into the woods to earn a liv- ing for herself and child.
For eight or ten long years she roamed the for- ests of Sullivan and Delaware counties, in New York, and Wayne and Pike in Pennsylvania, and spent two years in Meeker county Minnesota.
She had cabins in various places, and would visit the old home about once a year, and only ap- peared in the settlements and villages to sell her game and furs and to procure ammunition.
On one of her visits to her child when it was about four years old, her parents complained of having its care on their hands. She therefore took it away and placed it in the Delhi poor-house, and left her old stamping ground for New York and thence up the Hudson river-still in men's apparel -and, strange to say passed and repassed her husband on the Hudson River railroad without being recognized by him, her disguise was so com- plete.
From Albany she passed west over the Central New York, and finally turned up in Minnesota, and says she taught three singing schools on the way, to provide means of transportation.
She spent a short time in St. Paul, where she made but few acquaintances and among them was
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an Edwin Gribbel, who had some dealings with her, but Edwin hadn't the remotest suspicion that she was a female, or he would perhaps have been less free with her. Gribble had reason to know that Lucy Ann was somewhat eccentric, not only on account of the wildness of her tastes, but in the way she dressed, her costume in the summer of 1856 having consisted of a pair of calico pants, a calico coat and a calico vest and hat. In this cool but rather odd suit of clothes, Lucy Ann hung around for some time waiting for a chance to make a strike. At this time Gribble occupied a claim on the upper shore of Lake Minnetonka, near Cook's and adjoining him was a claim which had been jumped by a man, who employed Lobdell to oc- cupy it in his absence, and both of whom spent some time together upon that claim. The claim- jumper, however, finally disappeared, leaving Lob- dell alone to watch his land. This was about the time that Gribble and Lucy got pretty thick, tramp- ing together through the woods in pursuit of game, and sleeping together under the same blank- et when they woed the gentle goddess of slum- ber under the umbrageous forest trees around Minnetonka. But Gribble didn't dream that Lu- cy was a lone female, and hence he felt that his familiarity with her entitles him to a suspension
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of public opinion until he can prove his innocence of any evil intention. Well, after hunting with Lucy for a while, and pleasing her with the elo- quence of his tales of love, and his experiences as a jurist and politician, Lucy got tired of waiting for the return of the claim-jumper and also of Gribble's pretty talk, and expressed an inclination to strike out further into the wilderness. And right here, Gribble did a handsome stroke of bus- iness. The claimant of the land failing to appear, it naturally became the property of the occupant, and Gribble thereupon purchased Lucy's right to the soil, and gave her that seventy-five dollar rifle, which she carried for so many years afterwards in consideration of a quit-claim to the land, which she made out and transferred to Gribble. Then Lu- cy with Gribble's gun on her shoulder, set out for Meeker County.
She had the $75 rifle, and spent her first winter (1856-7) with another person both in male attire, on the old Kandiyohi town-site on the north of Kandiyohi lakes.
The two were employed to reside on and thus hold possossion of the new town-site, by the Min- neapolis proprietors. Her companion spent the winter with her, but never for a moment suspected that he was wintering with a woman.
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At times, when provisions fell short, they were compelled to live on squirrels for their meat.
And on one occasion, her companion was com- pelled to visit the Mississippi river settlements for supplies, and before his return. she, failing to find the necessary squirrel, relied upon those brought in by the cat, her only companion, for supplies- the cat furnished squirrels when the rifle could not reach them.
The last we heard of "puss" he was in the care of Noah White, of Kandiyohi county; he was a fa- vorite in that settlement for a number of years and died of old age.
The Summer of '57 Lucy Ann appeared in Man- annah, boarding a short time in a place, doing chores, chopping wood, hunting, washing dishes, etc., for her board. She was handy at anything: those with whom she was acquainted seemed to enjoy her company-her male apparel often re- quiring her to sleep in close proximity with others of the male gender-but with no indiscretion and with no suspicion that she was other than what appeared on the surface.
For the purpose of completing her disguise she had assumed the name of La-Roi Lobdell.
She ever seemed well pleased with her disguise, and the difficulty that would naturally interpose
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in resuming, without loss of character, her natural and appropriate raiment probably induced her to continue the deception. She claimed to have as- sumed this disguise, originally in order to better get away from home, without detection by a drunk- en husband.
· She had but little money and was a splendid hunter and was offensive to none, and, as before remarked, was good company and a "hale fellow well met" with all the young people in the neighborhood, committing no indiscretions.
In the summer of 1858, by accident. "Satan, with the aid of original sin," discovered and ex- posed her sex. The blue code of Connecticut was consulted, and the law was invoked to purge the community of the scandal.
The county attorney, Wm. Richards, now of the city of New York, filed an information against Mrs Slater before John Robson, Esq. J. P., then contesting the jurisdiction of this county with J. B. Atkinson, Esq., as judge of the only court we had, alleging "that, whereas, one Lobdell, being a woman, falsely personates a man, to the great scandal of the community, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Minnesota," and asked that she be dealt with according to law, that so pernicious an example might not be repeated in
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this land of steady habits. U. S. Willie, Esq., a young lawyer from Virginia. then residing at For- est City, appeared for the prisoner, and A. C. Smith as counsel.
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